Women violence is a common vice in the society whereby there are multiple forms of discrimination against women both physically or verbally. In contemporary society many womenreport cases of unequal treatment, domestic violence, forced marriage, sexual assault, genital mutilation. These forms of violence against women have increased their risk to mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, trauma, suicide ideation and many others. Gender has become a defining factor for mental illnesses because most women who are victim to these problems have mental problems. This paper will discuss all the aspects of gender violence against women and how they affect their mental health. Gender is critical to mental health because in society there are issues with difference in power between men and women ("Gender and women's mental health"). According to the gender construction of the society, men are groomed to be powerful whereas women are groomed to be soft-spoken and vulnerable. Therefore, due to the high power men have over social and economic factors, women are at a disadvantage in the community. Globally, women record the highest level of mental health problems compared to men ("Gender and women's mental health"). According to the World Health Organization, women have poor mental health because they struggle in the society under violence, economic disadvantages, low income and social ranks. Women have to struggle with this discrimination thus risking high prevalence to mental problems. Gender discrimination is considered the basis for violence because men assume their power to abuse women sexually and physically. About 42% of women have depressive disorders with a difference of 29% compared to men ("Gender and Women's mental health"). The highest percentage of people affected by violent events such as war is women and at least 20% of womenare raped in their lifetime. The accumulation of these occurrences that cause pain and humiliation
